MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Sunday assured the public that the military respect the Lumad community and other Indigenous Peoples It also denied allegations that they are targeting Lumads.
"We assure the public that the interests of the Lumads and our respect for their cultural ways are foremost in our minds," AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla said.
Padilla made the clarification following allegations that the military is deliberately targeting Lumads in their anti-surgency operations and in the wake of continued efforts by militant groups to internationalize the issue of Lumad killings in certain provinces of Mindanao such as Davao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.
"The attempt to internationalize the issue and demonize government and the AFP in regard to the matter is always an expected move on their part. It is obviously part of their agenda to hurl all accusations and blame everything on the AFP to besmirch the AFP's reputation," Padilla said.
Padilla also clarified that the AFP is not involved in the Lumad killings and said that they are fully cooperating with authorities like Philippine National Police to obtain credible facts regarding the atrocities.
"The AFP is also doing its own internal investigation to ascertain if AFP actions were appropriate relative to this unfortunate event,” Padilla said.